Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Matthew on September 26, 2011
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Over the last wee while I have managed to chip away at the kit i bring with me on a typical outing, I always end up bringing the same stuff as it just works or I have confidence in the kit.
One area, which I have neglected and which always changes, is food. Breakfasts are ok as I just go for some oats so simple porridge or pancakes, Mc Donald's jam portion and a coffee. Main meal for me is a bit more of a problem, I am sick of just rice; pasta and such other add hot water to type meals. Pre packaged ready meals such as Wayfayrer are ok but at four to five pounds are expensive and you have the foil packaging to carry around and dispose of.
So on to my question, does anyone have any experience of vacuum sealing for the home market? After a bit of research it appears that serviceable machines can be had for around forty pounds.
The idea would be to prepare meals at home, seal them and heat them up in a Jetboil then eat from the pouch. I am aware that I will still have to dispose of the plastic bag and that the wet food will add weight.
A few photos as an idea.
(http://www.andrewjamesworldwide.com/largeImages/vacuum%20bag%204.JPG)
(http://www.andrewjamesworldwide.com/largeImages/vacuum%20bag1.JPG)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW8qNSJ3Lds&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW8qNSJ3Lds&feature=player_embedded)
Matthew
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Looks good - at least the bag is reusable if you carry it home.
Combine this with the dehydrator thread and you're on to a winner with the weight issue.
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My mate has one of these machines, and the bags can be put in the dishwasher and reused, think his cost him about 45 quid or so, they are a real good job
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I bought one of those machines a few years ago. It was an entry level unit at around £35. It sucked the air out quite well but the hot sealing was a bit hit and miss. Often bags that were apparently well sealed would inflate overnight. Since I couldnt rely on it, I lost confidence and just gave the machine away. My machine had one heater strip but some of the better machines have two or more. Its a great idea though.
Fred
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What's the difference between bringing a dried mean in a ziplock bag and vacuum sealing it. Is there a huge benefit?
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The vacuum sealing is really useful for long term storage. By removing air it prevents the food from spoiling, especially if combined with refrigeration. Its good for moist things like meat or fruit.
fred
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Thats an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of vacuum sealing before. On a short trip the weight penalty of carrying wet food isnt that bad, as the way I look at it is you have to gather and carry the water at some stage (unless of course you are pitching next to a water source). Presumably you could tuck in to this stuff cold if you had a problem with your stove?
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Its possible, just may not taste as good.
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Yum... cold curry :) Actually the last pre-packaged wet meal I had was one of the newer Wayfayrer meals - Chicken Curry with Potato and Rice. Potato in a curry is blindingly good! Ate that one hot though!
Its possible, just may not taste as good.
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After looking into this, a bit further and chatting to the person who sells the machines it appears that there is more to the topic than first thought. Apparently, the machines vary in their ability to seal wet and dry stuff. My understanding is that one version punctures one side of the bag, which draws air out, and re seals the top and the holes with heat. The other version of the machines uses another technology to remove the air. Needless to say that the version, which punctures and sucks out the air, would in fact draw liquids up too.
The liquid sealing machines are serious pennies and as a result I doubt I will be perusing this much further until they drop to a sensible price, well it's either a new GPS or a food sealer this month.
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Yes, I'm exploring the "feeding problem" ; mainly the meal at night. At the moment I'm pre-cooking and have been sticking to roasted bacon joints ---these will keep for a week !!! Then it is a matter of warming "it" with "hot gravy" and then making the "smash". To venture into prepared meals , were you just add hot water would make 14 days back-packing expensive . For me breakfast is a 2 pitta bread bacon butty and 3 cups of tea ----the vacuum sealed bacon ; no problems. Is there other vacuum packed cooked meats ? As regards doing my own I didn't know that such a "home kit" existed. Vinny
Ps I'm now going to read the other replies !!!
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We have used the one my mate has for a lot of camping trips, it works well with meat and you can stick them in the freezer too, we made up fry packs with sausage bacon and black pudding, also great for the tatie bread keeps it nice and dry! :) we even vacuum packed pre blanched chips for car camping and brought the chip pan! Luxury! Lol ;D